ABSTRACT
We describe a case of keratitis caused by Paecilomyces lilacinus in a contact lens wearer with a history of diabetes.
Subject(s)
Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic/adverse effects , Cornea/microbiology , Equipment Contamination , Eye Infections, Fungal/etiology , Keratitis/etiology , Paecilomyces/isolation & purification , Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic/microbiology , Cornea/pathology , Eye Infections, Fungal/diagnosis , Eye Infections, Fungal/microbiology , Humans , Keratitis/diagnosis , Keratitis/microbiology , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The study aims to investigate the change in the burden of disease and the microbiological characteristics of Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) in Puglia in comparison with overall incidence from 1994 through 2014. METHODS: Data are gathered in the frame of the National Surveillance System coordinated by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. RESULTS: In Puglia, from 1994 through 2014, the average incidence of IMD was 0.2 per 100 000 inhabitants, below the national average value (0.33). IMD cases tended to be older than the other cases reported in Italy (median age 19 vs 16). The case-fatality rate was 20.4% in Puglia vs 13.3% in Italy. Serogroups B and C were most frequently identified. Serogroups C and Y presented a fairly clonal pattern, whereas serogroup B was genetically rather heterogeneous. CONCLUSION: Surveillance systems are critical in monitoring any change in the epidemiology of IMD.
Subject(s)
Meningococcal Infections/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Meningococcal Infections/mortality , Meningococcal Infections/pathology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Middle Aged , Neisseria meningitidis/drug effects , Population Surveillance , Serotyping , Young AdultABSTRACT
Pneumococcal meningitis is still today a life threatening disease among children under-5 worldwide. Although the heptavalent vaccine has demonstrated its ability to reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease its efficacy is limited due to the restricted number of serotypes included. We report a case of a child with a Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis despite the use of heptavalent conjugate vaccine.
Subject(s)
Meningitis, Pneumococcal/prevention & control , Pneumococcal Vaccines/therapeutic use , Child, Preschool , Female , Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine , Humans , Meningitis, Pneumococcal/microbiology , Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purification , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The lack of rapidity and the low sensitivity and specificity of traditional laboratory methods limits their usefulness in the laboratory diagnosis of viral central nervous system (CNS) infections. This study describes the use of a commercially available multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR)-based reverse hybridization assay (RHA) for the simultaneous detection of the genomes of 8 viruses and Toxoplasma gondii in cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) from 181 patients suspected of having viral meningitis. Twenty-two/181 (12.15%) CSF samples resulted positive by mPCR. Eighteen/22 were positive for 1 viral pathogen, whereas a dual infection was detected in 4/22 samples. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was the most commonly detected virus (6/22), followed by herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) (5/22) and -2 (HSV-2) (4/22). Cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were detected in 1 specimen each. Two CSF samples were co-infected by HSV-1/HSV-2, 1 sample by HHV-6/T. gondii, and 1 sample by EBV/EV, respectively. Our data support the usefulness of mPCR as a rapid molecular method for the simultaneous detection of major viral pathogens and T. gondii in aseptic meningitis also to allow the earlier application of specific antiviral therapy.
Subject(s)
DNA Viruses/isolation & purification , Meningitis, Aseptic , RNA Viruses/isolation & purification , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Toxoplasma/isolation & purification , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Child , DNA Viruses/genetics , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Meningitis, Aseptic/cerebrospinal fluid , Meningitis, Aseptic/microbiology , Middle Aged , RNA Viruses/genetics , Toxoplasma/geneticsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A limited number of human papillomavirus (HPV) types account for the majority of invasive cervical cancer cases. OBJECTIVES: To assess, in a southern Italian region, where HPV infection had not yet been investigated, the prevalence of type-specific HPV infection. STUDY DESIGN: Multiplex PCR was used to test cervical specimens from 871 asymptomatic women. RESULTS: The HPV infection rate was 23.1%, with the highest prevalence being observed in women aged 20-30 years (32.6%). Type 16 was the most frequent HPV type detected either in mono-infected (39.8%) or in multi-infected (46.3%) women. CONCLUSIONS: The HPV infection rate was higher than reported from other Italian areas. Our results further emphasise the importance of vaccinations to immunize females before they acquire HPV infection.
Subject(s)
Papillomaviridae/classification , Papillomavirus Infections/epidemiology , Adult , Colposcopy , DNA, Viral/analysis , DNA, Viral/isolation & purification , Female , Genotype , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Papillomaviridae/genetics , Papillomavirus Infections/virology , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Prevalence , Vaginal SmearsABSTRACT
Infection is a serious complication following pacemaker implantation. Usually it results from normal flora of the skin or from Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp. We report here a case suggesting that Brucella melitensis is able to persist around pacemaker device being a cause of relapsing brucellosis.
Subject(s)
Brucella melitensis , Brucellosis/etiology , Pacemaker, Artificial/adverse effects , Aged , Female , Humans , RecurrenceABSTRACT
BDProbeTec ET (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, Md, USA) is a fully automated walkaway system based on strand displacement amplification (SDA) technology that provides a method for the direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) target sequence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of BDProbeTec ET system to detect MTBC directly from clinical specimens and compare the results with staining and culture. From February 2002 through December 2003 a total of 1521 [pulmonary (n=1329) and extrapulmonary (n=192)] specimens from 1518 patients were examined by BDProbeTec ET system for the detection of MTBC and the results were compared to those obtained by microscopy and liquid culture (BACTEC 9000 MB, Becton Dickinson). MTBC was cultivated from 65 specimens (60 pulmonary and 5 extrapulmonary) of which 43 (66.2%) (42 pulmonary and 1 extrapulmonary) were smear positive and 22 (33.8%) (18 pulmonary and 4 extrapulmonary) were smear negative. BDProbeTec ET detected MTBC in 58 (55 pulmonary and 3 extrapulmonary) of the 65 culture-positive specimens. Although the BDProbeTec ET system gave five false-negative results among the 18 smear-negative culture-positive pulmonary specimens, our results demonstrate that the BDProbeTec ET system is a reliable tool in smear-positive samples and given its technical characteristics it can be used for the rapid detection of MTBC in either pulmonary or extrapulmonary samples.
